Oblivious Deception
by Meilin Li
Summary: What happens when the spell that holds Dawn in the world and the very fabric of time, wears out? What's with these weird dream sequences? S/D friendship and maybe more? Post Season 5.
1. Oblivious Deception: Prologue

Disclaimer: As everyone should know, I don't own any of the characters in this story. I'm just borrowing them. :D But, it would be a gret birthday present. I mean since my birthday is coming up soon...

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AN: Okay this ficcie has Spoilers for Season 5 and the beginning of Season 6. Eh, I'm writing the prologue just for now, and after I finish my ExT ficcie, I'll return to this. So, feel free to comment and stuff. It's going to have D/S frienship but it might develop into something more than that. Oh yeh, Buffy isn't coming back. She's dead. xD Thanks for reading. ^^

The Key. An intense, blazing orb of pure surging energy. Its essence had existed for eons as a entity which held no thought, emotion nor gender. It was a being that was as old as time itself. Although all powerful, the Key was very dependent. Not being able to have an ounce of thought or choice, it relied on others for protection. Whoever that may be. 

This situation came upon the monks of the Order of Dagon. They were to guard it with their lives, for anyone who could tap into the Key's power could use it to do much good as well as evil. Unknown to many, the monks had the uncanny ability to compress energy into a living breathing individual, a human being. 

And so when the hellgod Glorificus wanted to use it's power to break down the dimensional walls, the monks had no other choice but to mold the Key into flesh and send it to the Slayer, Buffy Summers. And so it came to be that the Key's memories as well as those of her were created in the fabric of time. She was given a name, a place, and a destiny alongside the chosen Slayer and those closest to her. Her name was Dawn Summers.

The confined knowledge of the Key was lost with the last of the members of the Order of Dagon; who much like his brothers gave his existence to their life's mission, protecting the Key. And so, little was known about Dawn and her power, although one thing was very clear, she must be protected at all costs. 

But there was a little problem nobody thought of, not even the monks. What would happen when the spell they cast to fabricate Dawn into flesh wears down? In which predicament would it leave her, when her memories and the memories of her start to deteriorate? Where would she go? What would she be? Who could she turn to?


	2. Oblivious Deception: Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As everyone should know, I don't own any of the characters in this story. I'm just borrowing them. :D

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AN: xD I couldn't help but write another chapter, it was stuck in my brain. And it wouldn't leave me alone 'till I wrote this. So, here's the second chapter. You can email me with any comments or criticisms at lil808angel@hotmail.com. Remember to read and review! I'll be forever grateful. Plus reviews make me a very happy camper.

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In her line of vision she saw swarms of people. All busy doing their own thing. She shivered when a chilly breeze whipped through the crisp air. Tugging at her pajama top she tried to cover as much of herself as possible as she wrapped her frail arms around herself. Something stroke her as odd when she looked up at them from her halted spot.

Their clothing. It was old fashioned. Frilly and sophisticated. It seemed like something out of a old movie. Except for the fact that the people walked around in the town square as if it was afternoon. 

It was pitched dark, the clouds were rolling in and lightning flashed in the sky. But nobody noticed. Only her. Everyone went on to doing their business and even though she wore her blue twinkle pajamas, nobody seemed to notice her. They didn't walk into her, but they all seemed to avoid the spot to where she was standing, seemingly oblivious to the teenage girl in their midst. 

Confused, she stuck out her hand to tap someone on the shoulder. As usual her hand went right through the woman she wanted to converse with. Looking around she tried again, this time tapping a young child on his shoulder. Again, her hand went right through him. She looked around frantically her breath getting ragged, trying desperately to get someone to notice her.

Panicking she ran. Right into someone with a hunched over with a dark hood. She took a step back and stared at the figure, with a questioning look upon her face. The figure raised his head and deep but unusually bright green eyes bore into her. As if seeing her for the first time in over ten years the figure leapt at her and clutched her shoulders in his tight grasp. 

She gasped and tried frantically to get out of it's grip. His mouth turned into a loathsome sneer. "History is past and past is fiction," he spat.

He then rammed her toward the dusty ground. As she fell her surroundings changed, suddenly she was sprawled on the tower. Doc grabbed her and tied her up, cutting into her with the ropes. His grin was deathly as he danced his knife on her body. All the while whispering about the cuts in a hoarse voice. 

He slashed harder and deeper when nothing came from her arm. Not even a drop. Just cuts, no blood. Her face etched in fear when he backhanded her. "Where's your blood?! I need your blood!" He moved away in anger.

Bringing her head up in fear she looked across from her and saw Buffy, tied the same way she was. She tried to scream her sister's name, but it all came in silence. Buffy tugged viciously at the ropes that tied her down. A leering Doc walked up to Buffy and slashed her much in the same way he had mutilated Dawn. 

But this time, there was blood. Lots of blood. The crimson ribbons trickled down Buffy's body like a small stream. But Buffy didn't cry out. Her face was wretched in pain, but she never cried out. Instead she screamed at the Doc to let Dawn go, begging even.

Obeying his dying victim, the Doc turned his head to face Dawn. He smiled and Dawn winced. Slowly he made his way over to her and cut her ropes roughly. She tried with all her strength to fight him but he held her down, walking her slowly to the edge of the tower. 

Dawn could hear Buffy screaming her name. She gave Buffy a side-ward glance filled with fear. Her throat seemed to have lost it's ability to make a sound. 

"Meet your destiny." She heard before she felt the Doc shove her hard, forcing her off the tower.

Dawn's soundless scream came as she fell.

"The glowing green," a voice said. Dawn twisted her body around in search of the person who said that. It was Buffy with a haughty look on her face. Seemingly floating in the air, falling alongside Dawn. 

Someone grabbed her arm abruptly and yanked her around to face them. Giles and Xander, like Buffy, falling with her. "The key of night," their faces were pensive, with no hint of emotion. 

"Ne'er meant to be seen," came Willow and Tara's voice coming from above her, looking as serious as ever.

She tried to yell at them. To ask them what they meant. But she couldn't. Something didn't allow her to speak.

"Will now be out of sight..." came a whisper with a English accent near her ear. She twirled her head around and right Spike's game face. 

He gave her a menacing smile and disappeared into thin air. She took in a sharp breath as she looked around for the others. Buffy was gone. So was Giles, Xander, Willow and Tara. 

The tug of gravity from falling was knotted deep in her stomach as Dawn realized she was still falling. She writhed. Twisting in the air. Something brought her to look up and there she stared straight into everyone's memories. Her mom. Buffy. Giles. Xander. Willow. Tara. Spike. And even Cordelia and Angel.

She saw the lives they had before she was forced to be a part of them. She saw the possible outcomes of what could've happened to her mom. To Buffy. To everyone. Suddenly she felt guilty. It overwhelmed her.

"You're not real. You never were. You never will be," their cruel voices whispered.

Her grief caught in her throat, the pain seemed never ending...

Dawn Summers, jerked in her bed clutching the covers to her young prone body, her breath coming out in gasps. Sweat beaded down her temples as her matted hair clung to her troubled face. The dreams were getting more intense and violent by the day and in turn, Dawn was getting more desperate for something to hold onto. For someone to tell. But she couldn't tell anyone, for they didn't make sense. None of it did. It was all a jumble of visions and sayings. Ones that made her head spin when she thought about them. 

She licked her chapped lips, her breath still uneven, her heart beating fast. So much had been going on in the past year.

Finding out that she was some sort of mystical Key. Her mom's death. The whole nightmare with Glory. Buffy's death. It had been the most oppressively disconcerting year of her life.

Her usually expressive blue eyes now held anguish. Disbelief. Regret. But most of all guilt. She knew, even when everyone told her she was the innocent in the whole ordeal. They told her she was pure and unlike anything evil. But she knew. She wasn't actually the innocent in all this. Everyone around her was. She was the reason _why_ everything was happening. How can someone like that be untainted?

Dawn held her hands in front of her. She was glowing again. It happened whenever she had one of these dreams. She didn't know why, but it just happened. No one had noticed so far though, and she didn't want to worry them. Besides it wasn't glowing that brightly. Just a dim green color. She wondered if this is what the people in the mental ward at the hospital saw when they saw her. She took a deep breath and pushed those unhealthy thoughts away.

Again, her thoughts drifted to Giles and the Scooby gang. They were her family now. Sitting up wearly, her gaze traveled out the window, and down onto the musty street. Her eyes were bright with tears of guilt. In the vastness of the crystalline blue eyes laid the secrets of the universe, yet oddly enough it wasn't accessible to anyone, not even the possessor.


	3. Oblivious Deception: Chapter 2

Disclaimer: As everyone should know, I don't own any of the characters in this story. I'm just borrowing them. :\

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AN: Here's another chapter. ::Sigh:: I guess I'm writing this before I finish my ExT ficcie after all. Well, enjoy. Like all authors, reviews just make my day. Hint hint. :D

"Dawn?"

"Dawn! Are you listening to me?"

Dawn's head slowly lifted up from her breakfast to meet Willow's anxiety-ridden expression. "Yes, Willow," she droned.

"Really?" Willow crossed her arms over her chest, a bit fed up with the young girl. Willow knew she was still having a tough time, but the brunette didn't seem to want to give anybody a break. "Then can you please tell me what I just told you?"

"I'm suppose to go to the Magic Shop later and Giles will watch me while the Scooby gang goes on their nightly patrol," Dawn replied matter-of-factly, while throwing her notebook and a few other belongings into her black backpack. "Now if you're done, I have to get to school." 

Wordlessly, Dawn left the house and continued her daily ritual of walking to summer school, alone. 

Willow sighed. She didn't mean to be so rude to Dawn. It was hard on all of them, even after almost a year. Buffy's death wasn't easy. And it didn't look like it was getting any easier. Troubled, Willow turned around to cook breakfast for the still sleeping Tara.

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History class was always a bore. She sighed and jotted down a few notes on what the teacher was saying. Who cares about what happened in history anyway? It had long ago past and it'll never be again, so why should it matter? 

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"Ye' knows why it mat'ers, young one."

Dawn tensed and looked around, suspiciously eyeing a couple of her classmates to see if any of them had said it or even heard it.

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"Wha' is ye' lookin' fer?" came the amused chuckle. Dawn's eyes narrowed, her gaze still doubtful of those around her.

"Dawn. Please pay attention." She blinked when Mrs. Berks scolded her sternly. Dawn smiled meekly in response and forced herself to listen to the mindless dribble. 

She stared down at her blue spiral bound notebook but she couldn't focus. It was too hard. Her mind continually drifted back to everyone she cared about. Why wouldn't they get out of her head? Why couldn't they leave her alone? She was sick of them.

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"Dawn. Ye' knew how life was befer 'em. Does ye' remem'r?"

The brunette swallowed uneasily, squirming in her seat. "How did you know that?" she breathed softly. The voice chuckled, _"I am ye' Dawn. And it is also true fer the op'site." _

"What?" Dawn questioned somewhat loudly.

Mrs. Berks blinked at Dawn quizzically, "Well, the Powhatan tribe wanted absolute power in the James River area," the woman looked down at her notebook, studying her notes, "but you see a man by the name of De La Warr raided the Indian villa-"

"That's not how it happened."

"Excuse me?" the dumfounded teacher asked.

"You heard me."

Mrs. Berks wrinkles showed on her forehead as she searched the textbook, ignoring the rudeness of Dawn's cold voice. "Well dear, it says in-"

Dawn stood up. "Whatever is in the book, are all lies!" she interrupted once more, this time quite harshly.

The teacher looked appalled and her classmates were whispering softly all around her. "Dawn if you don't quiet down I would have to send you to the office." 

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"They're all lies Dawn. And ye' knows it. Ye' knows it," came the reassuring voice.

The young girl stood frozen in her place as her teacher's face turned into the face of a old, wise man. He looked quite ancient wrapped in a dull red garment with intricate designs, his arms head and neck were adorned with beautifully hand-crafted jewelry. 

She looked around at her fellow students when their whispering had quieted down. They too were bizarrely dressed like the man, except their clothing weren't quite as elaborate. The feeling of hatred radiated off of their bodies.

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"The time has come my people! They have betrayed us! We will fight for our families!" The voice of absolute leadership came from the old man in a language Dawn had never heard before, but her brain seemed to translate the language into English for her. 

The cheers arose from all around her rushing to her ears. It was deafening. Dawn looked on highly perplexed as the scene changed to a forest with a large clearing in the middle, filled with men, women and children. She edged closer, uncertain. 

"Daddy!" Cried a little blonde girl as she threw herself at a gruff man.

"Bloody hell, Kara! You're goin' to give daddy a backache!" The girl giggled in response and buried her head into her father's shoulder. She could feel the emotions between the two, the love. Dawn's lips curved into a smile at the intense feeling.

Without warning, a war cry sounded in the distance and the garmented men she saw earlier rapidly rushed from all corners of the forest, weapons in hand.

Dawn watched in horror as the father got speared from behind and the little girl shrieked in fear. She watched as both sides battered each other for land, neither side ever thinking of sharing. The bloodshed was too much as she watch the men tear each other to shreds. The worst thing was, she could feel all their pain. Every cut, scrape, and scream felt as if it was coming from her. It hurt so much. She wanted it all to stop...

In a flash she was back in the sunny classroom. With the birds chirping outside and all stares on her. Her breath came out in heavy huffs as shock and immense torment was written all over her face. Tears brimmed in her trauma-filled orbs.

Mrs. Berks was worried as one of her students looked as if she was about to faint from shock. Immediately she rushed over to the youngest of the Summers and gripped her shoulders, trying to get the girl to focus on her. "Dawn!"

Dawn's darting eyes landed on her for a moment before she broke from her grasp and she ran out of the door. "Dawn!" she could hear everyone calling after her, but she didn't stop. 


	4. Oblivious Deception: Chapter 3

Disclaimer: As everyone should know, I don't own any of the characters in this story. I'm just borrowing them. :\

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AN: Here's another chapter. o.o;; Buffy's dead, just to make that clear. Thanks for reviewing my story. I'll try and write more soon, maybe I will, maybe I won't. I'm not quite sure yet. Thanks for reading and if you don't mind giving reviews...then review away! :D It'll make me extremely happy.

She wanted to get away. She had to get away. It hurt, why did it hurt? She could feel the pain of the people, physically and mentally. The stabs and scrapes seemed to have seeped into her skin. And the mental torment seemed to have etched itself on her mind. 

Her shoes hit the marbled floor with soft clanks. She didn't even notice as she ran into the double glass doors of the school and remained unharmed when she emerged.

She ran until she collapsed onto a grassy floor. She laid sprawled before the headstones, hunched over, with her head in her lap. For how long, not even she herself was quite sure.

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"Dawn. Ye' must know ye's own destiny. Ye' must fight it an' stay with ye' luv'd ones."

Dawn raised her blood-shot eyes to her mother's tombstone, then over to her sister's, the mere movements sent throbbing signals through her whole body. "I don't know what to do! It hurts! It hurts so much!" she cried out, tears dripping to the ground. 

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"I will stay 'till ye' pain goes away, lit'l one." 

"Why does it hurt? Why? I didn't ask for it!" anger consumed her as she yelled at the voice. "I don't want it..." she whispered softly with agony, her eyes scrunching up in deep frustration and pain.

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"It'll all be bet'er in due time, child," the voice comforted.

"Please. Please," Dawn begged, fresh tears rolling down her face. "Make them go away. I just want to be normal. Please." She buried her head in her lap once again sobbing.

Dawn fell asleep out of exhaustion on the cemetery floor as night crawled upon Sunnydale. Little did she know that the Scooby gang were all searching for her relentlessly, hoping that they'd find her before the daylight left the town.

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Spike took a long drag of his cigarette as he walked briskly in the almost dark cemetery. This was a short cut to Willy's. He needed more blood. He snorted. If only Dru could see him now. Chipped and drinking goat's blood like a deranged vampire. She'd laugh at him and stake him outright. 

Suddenly the aroma of fresh human blood reached his nose. It seemed familiar somehow, but he couldn't put a finger on it. He started to follow the scent but as sudden as it came, it was gone. Now he was imagining that he smelt blood? He shook his bleached head, he must be going crazy.

He threw his cigarette onto the grassy floor, taking time to stomp it out. He blinked at his own action. What was he doing? Since when had he ever stomped out a damned cigarette? His jaw tensed in anger. It was all Buffy's fault. She made him into a little puppy dog to be pulled around on a chain.

"Watch Dawn Spike. Tell me what's going on Spike. I'm going to stake you now Spike," he mimicked her voice, sinking his boots heavily into the soil. He pulled out another cigarette, lit it up and took a drag of it. "Bloody hell Slayer, you're still tormenting me," he sighed stuffing his hands into the pockets of his leather duster.

The sweet smell of familiar blood reached his nose again. He growled in annoyance, but followed the smell. Again, it disappeared suddenly but not before something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.

It was an unnaturally glowing light. The closer he got, the brighter it seemed to glow. The object was laying in front of two slabs of concrete. He knew they were the grave-sites of the two oldest Summers women. After Buffy had died, they moved Joyce's grave next to Buffy's, so that they could be together.

From behind a tree he watched the glow for a moment. His body tensed. It was breathing, human even. It looked like a young girl, though he couldn't be sure who, for her back was facing him. But one thing was for sure, she was hurt, and bleeding, but he couldn't understand why, the smell would be there one moment and vanish the next. It was positively uncanny. 

As he got nearer the glow from the girl illuminated the tombstones she was laying under, giving the whole scene an eerie feeling. He sniffed, there was the bloody smell again. This time it smelled like... 

Spike's brow furrowed, that couldn't be...

His cigarette fell out of his mouth as he strode hastily over to the body and turned it over. "Nibblet?!" 

Spike gently lifted her head into his arms. "Luv, wake up. Please," he urged. Spike winced when he saw her arms, they were covered with bruises and scrapes. Trying to get her to sit up, Spike placed a palm on her back which caused her to hiss in pain. He removed his hand abruptly as if he had been burned. "Dawn? Can you hear me?"

"S-Spike?" Her hesitant voice came, groggy and dry. Spike supported her, trying not to touch her back. "I'm here Bit."

Dawn's took in a sharp breath, "I-It hurts Spike. It hurts." She opened her eyes to look at him, begging him to make the pain go away. If he had a heart, it would've broke right at that moment.

"What in the bloody hell happened? And why are you _glowing_?"

"I-" Dawn was cut off as she disappeared from his arms, leaving him to bask in only the glow of the moon. 

Spike jerked away from his spot, "Dawn!?" Stumbling to standing up, he looked around frantically for an explanation. "Dawn! Where are you?"

He halted in his spot when Dawn appeared again, in the same spot he had held her a minute ago. But this time, she wasn't glowing, and as he got closer he noticed the bruises and cuts on her arms had all faded. "What in the-"

"Spike!"


	5. Oblivious Deception: Chapter 4

Disclaimer: The usual, I don't own these characters because they don't belong to me blah blah blah... :x

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AN: Thanks for the great reviews. I know the scene with Buffy and the monk is not as it happened in the show, but this was Dawn's dream representation of it. Please R&R, I want to know how I'm doing. ^^

"Spike!" 

Willow advanced towards him, hair flying behind her. Looking very much like the powerful sorceress she was, "Spike, get away from her."

Spike did a double take and his jaw clenched. From beside her Xander broke out into a run for Dawn. Spike grabbed his wrist and shoved him back forcefully causing Xander to stumble into a tree.

Xander glared and righted himself, "You're not the only one worried, dead boy."

"Xander, Spike. Now isn't the time," Willow said kneeling beside Dawn and checking her vital signs. Spike could hear the edge of annoyance in her voice. She almost sounded like Buffy did, when the world was weighing her down. 

"She seems all right, her heart rate is just a bit abnormal though." Willow reached down for the girl but Spike caught her arm.

"Not on your life Red," he replied before gently scooping up the unconscious young girl in his arms.

Spike marched silently toward the Summers' house with a tired Willow and an angry Xander at his heals.

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"Y-You must protect the Key."

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"Okay, protect the Key. We'll do it together, far far away from here," Buffy started to pull the monk along with her, half dragging him.

"No. The Key...millions have died, millions more if...you don't protect the Key," he replied collapsing onto the floor.

"We'll protect the key!" Buffy insisted supporting him the best she could. "Just not here, we need to get you to someplace safe."

The monk shook his head, "For thousands of years the Key...was protected by my brethren...until...until the abomination...found us," he coughed and started to breathe heavily. Buffy patted his back awkwardly, "We needed to keep the Key safe. So...so we made it into flesh...sent it to you...we knew you would protect her."

"Dawn," it was more of a statement than a question.

His expression pleaded her to understand, "You must protect her."

Buffy's voice was distressed and frenzied, "Bu-But she's not even real! You..." her face grew harsh, "You put that...thing in my house!"

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Buffy paused. "Our memories, my moms and mi-"

"We built them."

Buffy anger erupted, "Well then unbuild them! This is my life..." She cut herself off at the powerless look on the dying man's face. 

"What is she?" she asked in a tired faint voice. The voice of weariness--of having the world on her exhausted shoulders.

"Human. Human now. And helpless."

"She's not my sister."

The monk looked her straight in the eye, "She doesn't know that."

Her eyes were bright and opened wide. Haunted by her inconceivable visions. Tears were about to spill down her flushed cheeks. Dawn hastily wiped them away with her comforter. 

Dawn tensed and pulled the covers closer to her body. She was in her bedroom. How she got there in the first place she didn't even know. The last thing she remembered was...Spike. 

Her glance roamed around the darkness, searching for something. Anything. It finally landed on the figure sitting against the door's dark corner. He was hunched over staring at her intently with those blazing blue eyes. Dawn looked away. 

His eyes held so much. Confusion. Grief. Truth. She knew he watched her often, usually just lurking in the shadows. He would sometimes try to help, but she wouldn't allow him to. But other times she would just sit with him, talk with him and watch the television with him. Trying to unsuccessfully forget about her grief--even if it was just for a moment.

She would watched back sometimes. Mostly when he was busy sleeping. Occasionally she would spend the night at the crypt because she felt safe there. She felt safe in his presence. When she told him that once. He blew it off and said that she should feel terrified but inside, secretly, he was grinning.

This was the first time, however that she'd ever seen him look so...vulnerable. Even in sleep, when he looked innocent and not at all like the vampire he was, he didn't look defenseless. Rather he often looked quite troubled. Of course, she never asked, knowing quite well that he'd just brush away the question and change the subject. He was like that.

Deep inside she knew, even when he was weak, he wouldn't show it to anyone. He would keep it inside, as if nothing was wrong. It was a way of showing that he was invincible. But Dawn knew better, nobody was invincible. Not even Buffy. 

When Buffy had died, she could see the grief in his actions and words, but never in his eyes. They were always guarded, heavily. Not like it was now. Wide and opened, waiting for someone to prey on it. She could feel his gaze burn right through her.

She refused to look at him.

Still he didn't take his eyes off of her. "Is there something the matter luv?" Voice barely above a whisper of discomfort.

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"Ye' should tell the darkness. Ye' should accept the help. Then shall ye'll be healin'."

Dawn's mouth slammed shut at the sound of the voice. Her eyes darted behind her, in front of her, and anywhere her eyes could reach. "Can't you leave me alone?" she demanded in a haunted whisper, not much aware that Spike was also in the room with her anymore.

"Nibblet?"

Frantically she twisted and turned in her bed, trying to find the source. 

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"I thought ye' had accepted I now?"

"No! No I haven't! I don't know who...what you are!"

Worried, Spike was beside her in a flash, gripping her shoulders, staring intently into her eyes. "Dawn, listen to me. Look at me."

The voice chuckled, _"Ye' doesn't remem'r? Or is it that ye' doesn't want to remem'r?"_

"NO!" Dawn's eyes were busy looking for an escape, her mind running over the routes in her head. She wanted to get away from the voice. She squirmed in Spike's grip all the while screeching, "I don't want to remember! It hurts!! It hurts!!"

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"Memories ain't s'pose to hurt, lit'l one. I'm only here to help ye."

Dawn curled up into a ball, fingers gripping her head. "I don't want to remember...They hurt...I don't want to remember...Never remember, they hurt..." her words came out in a mumble.

Spike stood back and blinked as she glowed again. This time with a lot more intensive power then the last. He didn't notice it but the green glow surrounded his form too. He himself clutched his own head as Dawn and the room disappeared and the smell of Buffy overwhelmed his senses. 

He couldn't figure out why he was standing in Buffy's old room, looking at her empty bed. He shook his head, pushing away his massive headache. This wasn't right. Where was the hell was the Nibblet? He could've sworn that he was in her room, and not Buffy's.

"What the hell are you doing in my room, Spike?"

He spun around, and there she was, Buffy was standing at the doorway. Hands on her hips and her mouth in a sneer.

He choked. "Buffy??" 


	6. Oblivious Deception: Chapter 5

Disclaimer: They don't belong to me, so don't sue me. I'm only borrowing them for writing purposes. ^^

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AN: I honestly spent a lot of time writing this part of the fic. It was sort of hard to picture how it would be when Dawn disappears. I wrote the scene with AU Buffy this particular way because Spike didn't actually want_ to forget Dawn, but he couldn't see her because he was in an AU where Dawn never came to be human. Therefore, his surroundings and the people in it had no memories or hints of Dawn being alive, only his own memories. If that was confusing sorry. Just ignore my babble. R&R please! :D_

"Who else is it suppose to be?" Buffy rolled her eyes and pulled out a stake from her back pocket. "Would you kindly step out of my room so I can stake you?"  
  
Spike's face was that of absolute awe. He went up to her and circled her, making sure she was actually real and not the Buffy Bot. He could hear the crimson rivulets flowing through her body and the steadiness of her heartbeat. She was definitely not machine.

"Just so that when you turn into dust, I won't have to vacuum you out of my carpet," she continued before lunging at him, embedding the wooden point in his shoulder.

On instinct he growled and backhanded her into a wall.

Buffy looked disappointedly down at the bloody stake in her hand, "Damn, I should really work on my aim." She lunged again, this time aiming for his chest.

Spike's shoulder throbbed as he avoided the slayer the best he could. This wasn't right. Buffy wasn't should be...dead. How could this be? "Bloody hell Slayer! Hold on a bleedin' minute, will ya. I've got something to say."

Buffy stopped the stake inches away from his chest, pushing him into the wall with a loud thud. "Really? Well, you better make this interesting."

"How can you be alive?" He had meant to ask a smarter question, but that was the only one burning in his mind. He wanted to know--he _needed_ to know.

"Alive? Of course I'm alive. I'm as alive as I'll ever be, but you won't be if you keep up with your mind games." She emphasized herself by pressing the tip into the area where his heart would've been had he been a human.

He stared intently into her green eyes, speaking lowly, "Hell Slayer, I watched you die. Leaped off that tower to save the Bit. Giving her a second chance at life and all that rot. So why are you bloody well and kickin' my ass?"

"Spike, we all know you have problems. But I didn't think you were crazy," She pushed the stake deeper into his chest deliberately bypassing the area of his supposed heart.

"No! Damnit! Your sister younger sister Dawn. Remember? Cute lil bint, brown hair, blue eyes..." he replied angrily trying to trigger her memory.

Buffy looked at him peculiarly. "Nope. Never had one of those around here."

"She's the Key? Swirling glob of energy turned human? You jumped off the tower for her?" Spike questioned, still in amazement that she didn't remember. His was at a loss for any other words. Buffy was alive and she had no idea who Dawn was. Where the hell was he? He was now almost positive that he wasn't in _his_ dimension anymore. Wherever this was, Buffy was happy and kickin' and Dawn was... not even a memory. He grimaced.

Realization hit him. Dawn. Did...she do this? After all she was could break down dimensional walls, so could she actually send someone to an alternate dimension?

Buffy's sweet voice cut through his thoughts. "Nope, doesn't ring a bell."

Unexpectedly a feeling of electric shock ran through his frame and burned his body. He howled in pain, his eyes squeezed shut. "Bloody hell!"

Buffy stepped back as the pale blonde crumpled to the floor, landing on his hands and knees. His body once again glowed green as Buffy and the room swirled and finally faded. Bringing him back to his original place, Dawn's room.

The room flashed and faded into Buffy's old room again. Then Dawn's, where Dawn was curled up and sobbing in her bed. Before he could reach her though, the room was replaced with Buffy's. Spike looked around, head pounding. "Dawn!? Stop it right now!" 

He had no idea why he told _Dawn_ to stop it, but it just came out. However, right as the words left his mouth. Time seemed to freeze before his surroundings faded into Dawn's bedroom.

Spike picked himself off of the floor and grabbed the girl, staring her straight in the face. He demanded an answer, "What the hell is going on?"

Dawn flinched away from him and his unbeating heart dropped to his stomach. She was afraid, he was about to let go but his encounter with Buffy was engrave in his mind. His expression turned dead serious. "Dawn. Tell. Me."

"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts." The words came out in a whimper as she pinned him with her eyes. "You're hurting me!"

Stunned, Spike dropped his hands but still towered over the now shaking girl. "I didn't mean to hurt you Bit." 

She stared back at him lifelessly.

His face softened as he took a seat and reassuringly rubbed her back. Dawn buried her face in his shirt, arms wrapped around his waist. He stiffened but petted her hair as she sobbed into his shirt.

When Spike spoke his voice softened but was still quite stern, "Did you do that?"

"Do what?" She found her voice after a long while of silence. She sniffed and looked up at him.

Spike's jaw tensed. She didn't even know what happened. "Nothing, Lil' Bit." He wasn't about to tell her what he experienced if she didn't know what he was talking about.

Dawn looked at him with wide eyes when he didn't answer. "She didn't want me," the girl whimpered.

Spike knew who Dawn was talking about. He pushed her away, holding her at arms length, "Dawn, Buffy loved you. So much that she actually gave her life for you. Don't think for a minute that she doesn't," the last part of the sentence came out as a growl. How could she think that?

Dawn looked away, "I saw them. Buffy and the monk. They were talking about me. She wanted him to un...unbuild the memories. To_ unbuild me._"

"Look, she loved you, you know that. Don't let some dream muddle that up for you Bit."

She glanced at Spike and once again buried her face in his shoulder. "I want to believe you, I really do. But it's hard," her voice was muffled. Dawn really wanted to accept what Spike had spoken, but she was certain that what she saw was real. She knew that it wasn't just a bad dream.

"I know Sweet Pea. I know."


	7. Oblivious Deception: Chapter 6

Disclaimer: The only things that I own is my computer and what's left in my lint filled pockets. Don't sue me...

AN: It's been a while, I doubt anybody's even reading this...but if you are...enjoy. And like every other writer, reviews always make my day.

Dawn stared. That was all she could do. She knew that by now, trying to run away was futile. These dream-like sequences allowed her little movement or interaction with the scene around her. And although she could move, she wanted to know a bit more before wandering off somewhere. 

This time the scene unfolded before her like a movie; onto the set of what looked like a training camp. For what though? 

Her questions were soon answered when a couple of men jogged through right before her. On instinct, she took a hesitant step back. But she knew quite well that no one could see her. To these people she was, in essence, invisible. And although the thought was unsettling, it didn't really trouble her all that much. Honestly, she was used to it.

What completely threw her off track was the fact that these weren't men at all. Upon closer inspection, these men turned out to be boys. Many of them in their early teens. As her body took her closer into the midst of these children, a shiver ran down her spine. Among these boys were demons. Crimson-horned, sharp-nailed, tall 8-footed, Kahk'l demons.

She had read a small passage on them when she was doing some research for Giles. Distinctly she remembered that they were a fierce and unyielding warrior type. A type that trained ever since they were children; the type that was brutal and forceful. Her dark hair swished as she glanced around her. But there were no child-like Kahk'l demons, she only saw human boys.

Young boys training with Kahk'l demons. Dawn's blood ran cold. The Kahk'l were... She looked over to a worn down building with bars over the cracked windows. Occasionally inhuman wails were herd from there, only to be silenced. They couldn't be doing what she thought they were...could they?

She ran toward the darkened glass doors, in a fervor. She needed to know more.

The hallway was dark with dying light bulbs illuminating the shadowy hallway. Dirt and grime lined the floor. Thank the gods that her sense of smell was supposedly muted here. 

Taking the stairs two at a time, she reached the second floor in no time. Seeing nothing much of interest there, she proceeded to the third floor. Dawn eyed one of the doors down the hallway on the far left. A Kahk'l demon had just stepped from within it and was now making its way toward her. Following her instincts and ignoring the demon, she advanced through the door.

She entered. At once, she turned away in disgust, choking. Something repulsive hit her auditory senses. And the smell was overbearing. Since when was she able to use her sense of smell in these weird dream sequences? 

What she saw was disgusting. She shook her head in abhorrence at the sight before her. Demons of all types were lined up in what looked like cages no bigger than themselves. There was one word for this: Inhumane. 

Dawn walked further in. The air around her was rueful. Some were chained up in their cages and many looked like shit. A number of them were crumpled on the floor with battered bodies. The smell was gut wrenching. She took a minute, coughing to rid her nose of the vulgar smell. No doubt that the 'caretakers' had left some to rot. This was immoral. Even demons didn't deserve this.

She swallowed her nausea and looked around. None of the demons were Kahk'l aside from maybe one or two. Many of them were of other types. Human looking ones, menacing ones, small puny ones, and even ones that reminded her of Oz...But why were they here? 

Another wail brought her to the end of the hallway, where it diverged into two. Taking the route where the wail was heard from again, she walked briskly trying to locate the sound. Then she heard something. She tentatively stepped through a door to a room where she heard voices hissing in argument.

A group of Kahk'l demons were bent over a table, arguing over which body part to cut off of their human looking victim, who was lying helpless on the grimy steel table. As the one closest to her made his own decision and sank his scalpel blade into the leg of the victim, the man on the table jerked and cried out. As if pleased by the pained outcry, the other members of the group followed suit with other parts of the victim's body.

Blood pooled onto the floor, slowly leaking to where she was.

By the time they were finished however, Dawn was still standing there numbed. She almost threw up. She had watched a man get dissected--alive. Without another look to the mutilated body Dawn backed out of the room.

In a cry of surprise she backed into something solid. Abruptly turning she came face to face with a man. Though attractive somewhat, his frigid demeanor scared her. She screamed once and tried to run in the opposite direction. Not wanting to know why she could feel him. However, he was much to fast for her and he grabbed her by the arms. "Why little girl, have you gotten out of your cage again?"

Her eyes grew a bit rounder. "You can see me!" She whispered heavily, while shaking her head a bit in disbelief. This place was getting stranger and stranger...it wasn't like other 'dreams' she's had. To a certain degree, this place almost seemed..._real_. Well that is except for the fact that nearly no one could see her. No one but the man adorned in a white lab coat frowning mockingly at her--that is.

"Ah...guess it was your lucky day that I ran into you here. I was just going to the cells to get a Dreg." He grinned as he hauled her off into a room. "Come along."

Dawn struggled ceaselessly. How could this man see her? They weren't suppose to see her, she wasn't suppose to be able to interact with them. What the hell was happening? "Now now," the man scolded, "Don't make this harder than it already is."

As he opened a door, he threw her to the middle of the room, before he himself stepped in. She landed in a heap, breathless, of having struggled all the way there. As she took in her surroundings, she noticed a large snake like demon chained to the wall. It's beady black eyes didn't seem to notice her, but had it's glaring gaze at the man that had thrown her in there.

"Elox...I brought you a toy." The man gestured to the middle of the room, quite proud of himself. "Like it?"

Elox's eyes narrowed, and he let out a hissing laugh, "Aalkhan, you mussst've been working with them Kahk'l for too long. You're imagining thingsss."

The man frowned. "No I certainly am not."

"There isss nothing there."

Aalkan walked up to the snake demon and slammed down a dart right into Elox's shoulder blade, making him crumble and hang on his thick chains for support. "Do _not_ lie to me demon."

"Why would I lie to you!" Elox hissed, annoyed. His ebony eyes flickered to the middle of the room, unable to focus on anything and then back to the man by the door. "There isss nothing there!"

All Aalkan did was murmur in contemplation. "Yes yes...you wouldn't lie to me. Unless..." The man threw Dawn a foul look. By this time, Dawn had retreated into a corner and had been considering her escape route. 

"You!" He came by and pulled on her arm. He jerked her to the floor when she resisted, "We shall go see another." With that, he pulled her into a different room, with a different demon, who also swore that he saw nothing there.

And so the day lingered on. Aalkan dragged Dawn to countless demons and was baffled at why no one else could see her. He had even tried to show her to a few Kahk'l demons who simply dismissed him. 

At long last, Aalkan was on the brink of insanity. His mind couldn't comprehend why this girl was haunting him. Why only he could see her. He had brought her back to a small filthy room after numerous attempts to explain her and left her there to rot. Intending to never come back for her again.

Dawn was a mess. Her cheeks streamed of tears. Her body aching and sore. Her mind harshly contemplating on why she hadn't woken up from this nightmare yet. This dream sequence was unlike any other, for once, she could actually focus on what she felt. The overwhelming feelings that she usually got from others seemed muted somehow. It was blocked. She could only feel her own emotions. And she was scared. What if...what if she never made it home?


End file.
